Music To Our Ears!

The Suzuki String School are our Volunteers of the Month!

Since 1972, the Suzuki String School of Guelph (SSSG) has raised funds, organized activities and performed at countless community events to meet its goals. SSSG seeks to advance the art of music, build communities, provide accessible music education to all members of our communities, create the next generation of positive community members and leaders, and strengthen culture and civil society.

To support the efforts of Suzuki String School there is a strong foundation of volunteers who have built and led the organization to success. From fundraising to the board of directors, the efforts of volunteers have developed offerings of the organization. Volunteers continue to support the mission of SSSG: to promote the healthy growth and character development of children through the study, practice and performance of music.

Students can participate in early childhood education, private and group lessons, workshops and performance. SSSG provides students with support for the Royal Conservatory of Music exam and University audition preparation through exceptional teaching by world-renowned faculty.

Suzuki String School of Guelph Administrator Janet Johnson shares “Suzuki String School is recognized as an institution of excellence in musical education in the Guelph-Wellington region and a leader in its field across North America. Volunteers are an integral component of our organization.”

For the past 5 years straight, volunteers have implemented an annual online auction to raise funds for sponsoring music education for children. In 2017 alone, this involved 17 volunteers coordinating their efforts over 3-4 months, and included procurement of auction items, meticulous organization and marketing of the items.

Every year the volunteers have raised the bar on total amounts raised for the bursary fund. This year the Endowment Fund reached over $225,000 and the school doubled its annual bursary from $5,000 to $10,000. This is outstanding, and in comparison, just 5 years ago the Endowment Fund was at $22,000. All the monies raised are applied to a Bursary Fund and the Endowment Fund to sponsor families for music education in cases where financial support is required to send children for weekly music education lessons.

“The SSSG has a strong culture of volunteerism,” says Janet, “in an effort to keep school fees as low as possible while maintaining the high quality of our offerings, every SSSG family participates in big and small ways in the running of the school. We also welcome the support of community members and alumni. We need help with a variety of tasks such as board members, marketing committee members, fundraising committee members, grant writers, practice buddies, chaperones and more.”

Through the support of volunteers, the Suzuki String School continues to grow and create beautiful music in the community. “It is awe inspiring to see the effort of a small group of people to get such overwhelming local business support for the cause of music education for our local youth,” said Janet.